Thursday 8 October 2009

Words of Wisdom From a 4 Year Old – Winning and Losing

Anand had gotten some of those goofy Yu-Gi-Oh cards. I don’t think he had any real grasp of what to do with them, but he asked if I wanted to play a game.
Sure.
He laid down some cards, looked at them a bit, laid down some more cards, looked at them for a moment and then pronounced:
“Okay, you’ve lost.”
“I’ve lost?! Well… what are the rules of this game?”
“Well, the rules of this game are that you’re gonna lose. It’s called “You Will Lose.”
“ ‘You Will Lose’ ? Well… what fun is that? Why would I want to play a game if I know right from the start that there is no chance of winning? That’s not very fun.”
“Because winning isn’t everything Uncle Thomas” Anand announces pedantically with a mischievous smile.
I burst into laughter. 
Just the week before I had tried to explain to him the concept that the enjoyment of an activity is often just the participating in it, that emerging victorious isn’t really the most important aspect of it. I never anticipated I’d have the meaning of those words twisted up and tossed in my face by a precocious little kid.

1 comment:

  1. It's usually more fun to be the cool uncle, eh? Give that precocious brat a hug! What a great story to tell at his wedding!

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